The integration of language and society. This project aims to seek associations between social and life-style differences and language structure. All human societies show pervasive similarities and all languages share recurrent features. Viewing society and language as an integrated whole, the project will study related groups in contrasting physical and social environments in PNG, Africa, East Asia, Amazonia and Australia. Inductive generalisations about associations between societal and langua ....The integration of language and society. This project aims to seek associations between social and life-style differences and language structure. All human societies show pervasive similarities and all languages share recurrent features. Viewing society and language as an integrated whole, the project will study related groups in contrasting physical and social environments in PNG, Africa, East Asia, Amazonia and Australia. Inductive generalisations about associations between societal and language parameters (e.g. varying techniques of address relating to articulated kin systems and social hierarchy) aim to provide insight into the human dynamic. Findings should benefit programmes for cultural awareness, language teaching and revitalisation and understanding of multicultural situations.Read moreRead less
The building blocks of meaning: a linguistic approach. This project will investigate how complex meanings are built up from more basic building blocks, and to what extent basic meanings differ between different languages, cultures, and geographical zones. The project is expected to lead to significant advances in the scientific knowledge of language. Nothing comparable has been attempted before. Expected outcomes include a rich harvest of new knowledge, digital tools to assist with analysing and ....The building blocks of meaning: a linguistic approach. This project will investigate how complex meanings are built up from more basic building blocks, and to what extent basic meanings differ between different languages, cultures, and geographical zones. The project is expected to lead to significant advances in the scientific knowledge of language. Nothing comparable has been attempted before. Expected outcomes include a rich harvest of new knowledge, digital tools to assist with analysing and translating complex meanings, and ongoing international collaborations. This will provide significant benefits such as enabling messaging and communication in education, health care, service delivery and international affairs to be clearer, more accessible and more translatable.Read moreRead less
Extraordinary yet mundane talk: children navigating palliative care. This project aims to provide foundational evidence of how clinicians and families communicate effectively with children with life-limiting conditions. Finding ways to sensitively communicate with children about matters that will profoundly affect them will support the everyday work of skilled healthcare professionals. In developing the first nation-wide repository of video-recordings of paediatric palliative care consultations, ....Extraordinary yet mundane talk: children navigating palliative care. This project aims to provide foundational evidence of how clinicians and families communicate effectively with children with life-limiting conditions. Finding ways to sensitively communicate with children about matters that will profoundly affect them will support the everyday work of skilled healthcare professionals. In developing the first nation-wide repository of video-recordings of paediatric palliative care consultations, the project will generate new knowledge by using conversation analysis to examine how these conversations occur in real-life clinical settings. The project expects to inform research, policy, and practice, by revealing more effective communication approaches, benefiting researchers, clinicians, healthcare users, and policy makers.Read moreRead less
The Ancient Today: Living Traditions of Classical Language Education. This project aims to compare, for the first time, ancient language education across world cultures with ‘classical’ literatures. It expects to illumine the purpose and value of classical language education in Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit historically and within global education systems today by comparing pedagogic ideals and practices across times and cultures. It aims to test the potential of inclusive classical langua ....The Ancient Today: Living Traditions of Classical Language Education. This project aims to compare, for the first time, ancient language education across world cultures with ‘classical’ literatures. It expects to illumine the purpose and value of classical language education in Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit historically and within global education systems today by comparing pedagogic ideals and practices across times and cultures. It aims to test the potential of inclusive classical language learning to boost educational outcomes for disadvantaged students. Other expected outcomes include two books, scholarly articles, education policy reports, and PhD student training. This should strengthen intercultural understanding and benefit school students, educators, policy makers and the wider public.Read moreRead less
Australian Aboriginal conversational style. This project aims to re-examine claims that Aboriginal Australians conduct conversations in different ways to Anglo-Australians. It will investigate and compare ordinary conversations in these groups on a large scale. The project expects to provide new evidence to explicate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal conversational norms, pinpointing differences which may lead to intercultural miscommunication. Expected outcomes include endangered language documenta ....Australian Aboriginal conversational style. This project aims to re-examine claims that Aboriginal Australians conduct conversations in different ways to Anglo-Australians. It will investigate and compare ordinary conversations in these groups on a large scale. The project expects to provide new evidence to explicate Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal conversational norms, pinpointing differences which may lead to intercultural miscommunication. Expected outcomes include endangered language documentation, and evidence-based findings to disseminate to service providers, to communities and to Aboriginal organisations to improve ways of engaging with each other. In addition, the project will benefit Aboriginal communities with new approaches to language revitalisation.Read moreRead less
Creating a non-invasive window into the mind. This project aims to create better tools to study the human mind. This project expects to generate new knowledge that can be used to non-invasively image neuronal activity. Expected outcomes include the development of unique new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) instruments to study neuronal activity in both highly controlled laboratory conditions and in humans, with the spatial and temporal resolution needed to study the neuronal circuitry that drive ....Creating a non-invasive window into the mind. This project aims to create better tools to study the human mind. This project expects to generate new knowledge that can be used to non-invasively image neuronal activity. Expected outcomes include the development of unique new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) instruments to study neuronal activity in both highly controlled laboratory conditions and in humans, with the spatial and temporal resolution needed to study the neuronal circuitry that drives low and high-level brain functions, i.e., creating a window into the mind. In the future, outcomes from this study could improve our understanding of mental disorders, advance computer brain interface technology, and inspire the next paradigm shift in artificial intelligence.Read moreRead less
Torres Strait Islander History: Sport, Culture and Identity. This project aims to investigate sport as a means of understanding the cultures, identities and history of Torres Strait Islanders. Through a community-centred approach, and a project team including Torres Strait Islanders, the project challenges versions of Australian history that marginalise the Strait or conflate Islanders with Aboriginal people. Expected outcomes of this project include a more nuanced history of Indigenous Australi ....Torres Strait Islander History: Sport, Culture and Identity. This project aims to investigate sport as a means of understanding the cultures, identities and history of Torres Strait Islanders. Through a community-centred approach, and a project team including Torres Strait Islanders, the project challenges versions of Australian history that marginalise the Strait or conflate Islanders with Aboriginal people. Expected outcomes of this project include a more nuanced history of Indigenous Australia, a significant body of repatriated resources on Islander sport and increased involvement of Islander communities in the history-making process. Anticipated benefits include a multifaceted contribution to reconciliation and better understanding of our unique and complex national identity.Read moreRead less
A Biologically Responsive and Anatomically Authentic Human Nasal Model. As respiratory conditions caused by pollutants and viruses become more prevalent, human nasal models to study infection/protection mechanisms and nasal drug/vaccine delivery are increasingly important. This project aims to develop a world-first human nasal model to mimic both anatomical and biological aspects of the nasal cavity and predict the distribution and deposition of fine particles and the resultant biological respon ....A Biologically Responsive and Anatomically Authentic Human Nasal Model. As respiratory conditions caused by pollutants and viruses become more prevalent, human nasal models to study infection/protection mechanisms and nasal drug/vaccine delivery are increasingly important. This project aims to develop a world-first human nasal model to mimic both anatomical and biological aspects of the nasal cavity and predict the distribution and deposition of fine particles and the resultant biological response from the nasal mucosa. The aim is to overcome a key fabrication challenge - to 3D print an anatomically accurate nasal construct with a porous wall on which to grow and mature functional nasal tissue that lines a nasal cavity wall. The benefit would be enabling faster development of more targeted drugs and vaccines.Read moreRead less
A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions. This project aims to mimic gut microbiome-organ interactions by developing a microbial-gut coculture chip, which can reversibly interface with other organs-on-chips. This is achieved through the systematic integration of highly customisable biofabrication and microfluidic technologies. This project fills a critical technological gap in the availability of an animal-alternative system to investigate microbiome-host interac ....A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions. This project aims to mimic gut microbiome-organ interactions by developing a microbial-gut coculture chip, which can reversibly interface with other organs-on-chips. This is achieved through the systematic integration of highly customisable biofabrication and microfluidic technologies. This project fills a critical technological gap in the availability of an animal-alternative system to investigate microbiome-host interactions, which will greatly complement existing meta-omics approaches. The deliverables include a proof-of-concept system validated for gut-liver axis as well as the creation of new knowledge and framework to assimilate design thinking and advanced manufacturing to elevate tissue engineering into physiology engineering. Read moreRead less
Understanding and Combatting 'Dark Political Communication'. This project examines an emergent series of tactics used by political actors (i.e. politicians, lobbyists, political groups, etc.) that we are calling 'Dark Political Communication' (DPC). DPC differs markedly from existing, well-established modes of political communication, as it often involves the deliberate spread of disinformation, use of highly inflammatory language, antagonism towards the press and democratic institutions, as wel ....Understanding and Combatting 'Dark Political Communication'. This project examines an emergent series of tactics used by political actors (i.e. politicians, lobbyists, political groups, etc.) that we are calling 'Dark Political Communication' (DPC). DPC differs markedly from existing, well-established modes of political communication, as it often involves the deliberate spread of disinformation, use of highly inflammatory language, antagonism towards the press and democratic institutions, as well as actions that seek to exacerbate social discord. In this project, we will provide the first-ever complete account of DPC tactics, and provide a series of recommendations to journalists about how their practice can best evolve to address this novel communication paradigm. Read moreRead less